Report: Bills are Pegula’s to lose

As the process of selling the Buffalo Bills continues to move forward, some broader observations regarding the situation have arisen.

Tim Graham of the Buffalo News has shared a pair of them. First, citing an unnamed source previously involved in the sale, Graham says that the team is “Pegula’s to lose.”

Pegula is Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula, who recently freed up $1.75 billion in cash by selling mineral leases in Ohio and West Virginia. Which gives him enough money to buy the Bills, but won’t do much to persuade the local politicians that taxpayer money is needed for a new stadium.

Regardless, Bills fans will be thrilled by the news. They’ll also be ecstatic at Graham’s other disclosure, from the same source.

Graham says that Bon Jovi’s Toronto-based group is “unfocused and disorganized.” Which perhaps should be the name of the next Bon Jovi album.

toronto is a great city but it shouldn’t get to steal the bills. make them continue to drive to buff. it isn’t the end of the world to do so. many pro football fans drive 2 + hrs or more one way to see a gm, particularly for southern teams like tenn and caro.

sewalters79 says:Aug 14, 2014 8:21 AM

Good news for Bills Fans! Screw Bon Jovi, he will move them to Toronto and he can’t be trusted

I don’t care what happens as long as Bon Jovi (a liberal) does not get any part of an NFL team. I’d much rather see it in the hands of a real businessman, not someone who is subject to the whims of the politically/environmentally correct left.

I am sure part of the deal that Pegula gets will be that the People’s Republic of New York and Erie County or Niagara County will significantly help finance the new stadium. Assuming the deal gets done, where are they going to build it? Orchard Park? Lancaster? Downtown near the hockey complex? How about Niagara Falls, USA?

I hope Bon Jovi doesn’t own the team. He should have stuck with owning that arena football team in Philly – like a washed up, has-been rock star should. Can you imagine if New York state had all three NFL franchises move out? Awful. Buffalo fans are great and deserve better.

It’s good to hear that the Bills will be staying in Buffalo. As for Jon Bovi…

his music sucks!

govtminion says:Aug 14, 2014 8:47 AM

Based on Pegula’s running of his NHL franchise, the Bills are in for a lot more bad years to come, then. It’s not ‘the team is moving’ levels of bad news, but it’s not ‘we are returning to competence soon’ news either.

Wow Pegula is the lucky loser who will most likely obtain the team the no body wants and Donald Trump thought he could pick up cheap. Like the Miami Dolphins the Bills have been big time losers since the Dan Marino Jim Kelly era.

Please, Bon Jovi is Gonna do it his way! I wonder if he doesn’t get the team will he cry 1000 rivers & be swimming for the shore? The bills are a little runaway?
Oh well, now he can go back to hair extensions , facelifts , & roadwhøres!
It’s always the wolf in sheeps clothing , you need to watch out for. It could be Pegula the whole time that wants to move the team? Don’t say i didn’t warn ya!!!

Pegula is the man I’ve been rooting for all along. Because he is willing to open his checkbook to put the best possible product on the field. As he has done with the Sabres, hopefully he has guys with a better eye for talent. Then the previous Sabres GM

guitarkevin says:Aug 14, 2014 9:10 AM

As a fan of a team that was taken from our city in the middle of the night unexpectedly, I wish the Bills fans all the best on this. They are a good fan base and that team needs to stay with them.

Bills fans already knew this. The trust is going to like him the best for 3 reasons – his offer is likely to be all cash, he is well-liked and will be accepted by the other 31 owners, and he won’t move the team. Oh and he has $1.75 billion to spend.

Time is the enemy of all deals and the leaks are probably from the investment bankers. There are two questions for Bills fans – the first is whether they can maintain local ownership (even thought Ralph Wilson was a Detroit native) and the second is location of a new stadium. Irrespective of the selection of new ownership – the stadium issue will follow close behind the sale of the team.

Thats good news. If Pegula can win the bid at 1 billion he’ll have 750 million left for the stadium add in the 200 mill the nfl gives to a franchise to build a new stadium & you might not need any or very little taxpayer money to build a new stadium. Until a new stadium is under construction Bills fans aren’t out if the woods yet.

I always wonder, is this the same type of optimism you displayed going into that 4th Super Bowl? I always wondered if everyone got their hopes up or if everyone had a really bad feeling. There is still time for a sex scandal or something but, Bon Jovi is the worst, it will be refreshing when he becomes a rear view mirror afterthought in the same token as, “Remember when Donald Trump tried to buy the Bills?? Yeah that was really stupid!”

As a Buffalo native and lifelong Bills fan, I’m still guarded until this thing is 1000% done I’m Pegulas hands. But I’m more optimistic than ever. It makes too much sense for Pegula to own the team.

mackcarrington says:Aug 14, 2014 11:16 AM

It’s only Buffalo’s small-town paranoia complex that had them worrying about the team leaving town. Now that it appears for certain they aren’t going anywhere, the next question is whether Pegula will will be any better of an owner than Wilson was. I mean, the Sabres aren’t exactly setting the NHL on fire.

granadafan says:Aug 14, 2014 11:18 AM

Trump is mad you didn’t give him free publicity. The Bills should have called his bluff and accepted the 1 billion cash offer and watch him bluster and retreat faster than when the president clowned him over the whole conservative-created birther nonsense.

I’m not afraid to address it. You probably only see the results the Sabres have had on the ice. What you haven’t seen is the fact that he came in, spent money to win a cup and failed. However he is rebuilding the right way, through the draft. He isn’t afraid to admit mistakes. Not to mention he is revitalizing downtown Buffalo. Pegula will be a great owner. This is more about sports, he will be a civic hero.

There you go Bongiovi…now go back to Jersey call Ritchi and tell him you are sorry for doing him on the cheap, and that you just freed up a whole bunch of money so you can now start paying him and you are sorry for treating him like just another employee…..

djshnooks says:Aug 14, 2014 1:22 PM

Pegula can build the stadium himself.

Funny it’s taken you this long…I’ve been saying this every day since March!!!

It will be hard for some to believe, but I actually have some inside info on how the Pegulas operate, at least for the Sabres. They are a committed bunch. Terry was put in a difficult spot when he purchased the Sabres. The team, previously owned by “penny pinchers” was looking to become contenders, and in that respect, the fans expected Pegulas deep pockets to drive the dream. So in return, he forked a blank check over to Darcy Reiger, and players were signed to please the fan base. It backfired, badly. Ruff, Reiger, Rolston and others were fired, the fans began calling him out, unfairly at that. After all of that, the dust settled and the process of hiring a GM ensued and we ended up with Tim Murray and he kept Ted Nolan. The Buffalo Sabres are settled now. While they may be bad, they have a direction, led by competent men in Nolan and Murray. Terry didn’t “fail”, he viewed himself and was viewed as the luckiest fan in the world by owning his favorite team. I, personally, thought he tried to hard to A.)please the fans, and B.) Build a contender out of a mediocre team right away. Terrys experience here at the F’NC will benefit him greatly in owning the Bills. He already knows how not to go about running a sports franchise. He will trust the right people, as long as they don’t go off the rails (Pat Lafontaine). His goal is winning, not making money. At the same time, he is a business owner and will expect to make money. And those 2 go hand in hand, winning leads to the extra revenue. I’m excited, as a Bills season ticket holder, and Buffalonian. HARBORCenter will make the downtown a destination greater than that of Toronto, coupled with the water front renovations this city is on the rise. BTW, to answer the ignorance, a franchise owner cannot own another sports franchise in a DIFFERENT market, the Bills and Sabres are in the same market.

rrhess1529 says:Aug 14, 2014 8:01 PM

It was always his team, the media gets everyone in a frenzy….Go Buffalo..